As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information.
Because information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. Information handling systems may also include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems may be configured to couple to various peripheral devices over a variety of interfaces that support various peripheral bus protocols including peripheral bus protocols that support different acceptable supply voltages. As one non-limiting example, the universal serial bus (USB) power development (PD) protocol supports 5 V, 12 V, and 20 V supply voltages. Compliance with USB PD or any other protocol that supports multiple supply voltages may require a variable output power supply and the information handling system may have to ensure that the variable output power supply is compliant with power, current, and/or voltage limits and safety standards, regardless of which of the available supply voltages was selected.
Implementing a power supply capable of delivering any one of two or more available voltages and ensuring that the power supply complies with limits specified by peripheral bus standards and safety standards increases the complexity of the information system handling system.